But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12

Several decades ago, on an Appalachian backroad in southwest Virginia, a farmer pounded his hammer against a barn roof to repair broken spots. 

Taking a break, he looked up to see another gentleman walking down the road toward him. The gentleman seemed unaware of the farmer’s presence and stopped a short distance away to enter a small cemetery. 

The farmer watched as the other man took off his hat, knelt beside a gravestone, and began to pray. There was something appealing in the gentleman’s demeanor that immediately captured the farmer’s heart.

“Whatever that man has,” he thought, “I want it.”

He must have scrambled down from his roof and trotted over to the gentleman because they wound up talking. The gentleman, who turned out to be a local circuit-riding minister, spoke about his faith in Jesus Christ and led the farmer through a prayer of salvation.

Years later, my brother-in-law Dewey was traveling through this same area and stopped to visit a tiny church he attended in his childhood. The church was locked, but a man nearby came up to greet him.

Dewey asked if he could go inside, telling the man that the church was where he was saved as an eight-year-old hearing his father’s sermon. The man gave him a curious look.

“Are you related to Arnold Williams?” he asked.

Dewey explained that Arnold was his father and former pastor of the church. The man then told the story—he was the farmer on the roof who had observed Arnold praying in the cemetery, and that he, too, had been saved by Jesus through Arnold’s witness.

It’s an almost unbelievable story. How could anyone give testimony to the love of Jesus without speaking? But I can trust it’s true. Arnold was my father-in-law during the last 20 years of his life. He was one of the kindest people I ever knew. Arnold had a brilliant smile, a heart for missions, and a soul always ready to tell others about Jesus. The Holy Spirit simply overflowed out of him.

Arnold could share the Gospel without saying a word.

Have you ever met people like Arnold? The ones who make you wish you had the same joy and peace?

Dewey recently related this story again about his dad, and it has given me pause to wonder. Would others see Jesus in me? It’s one thing to tell people about Him, but it’s another to share His story with actions and expression. 

I want what Arnold had. I want to tell others about Jesus. And while the Gospel story is clearly spelled out in Scripture, I want to go beyond telling the basic facts. I need to live, breathe, dance, sing, and shout Jesus’ praises to others who don’t know Him yet. Before I say anything, I want them to see that there’s something different about my whole appearance.

If you’ve ever gone on a mission trip to a country where you can’t speak the language, you know the challenges. You can’t tell people about who Jesus is and why you believe in Him. But you can offer a glimpse of your faith through your genuine smile and a body language that radiates joy.

I pray this week that you and I will have a similar craving to be salt and light to a darkened world, wherever we are. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will “fan the flames” of our witness for Jesus as you and I go through our day-to-day encounters.

Let’s share our Lord’s love today and give Him the glory…we won’t need words to get started.

Lord Jesus, thank You for people of faith who, like Arnold, love You and praise You with every fiber of their being. Help me to live for You as they have, to honor Your name and speak of You to others. Make me more like You, filled with Your Holy Spirit—that others may be captivated to seek You and Your grace. In Your name, Amen.

Nancy C. Williams is a Christian wife/mom with a writing career spanning more than 40 years in business and journalism. Williams is the author of the novel To Love a Falcon and the devotional book A Crocus in the Desert: Devotions, Stories, and Prayers for Women Experiencing Infertility. Her blogs are featured on Crossmap.com and AriseDaily. To follow Nancy’s posts and news, go to her home page at NancyCWilliams.com and subscribe at the bottom. 

© Copyright 2026 Nancy C. Williams (text and photography). Unless otherwise noted, Scripture verses are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. #Jesus #Appalachia #prayer #witness #testimony #circuitrider